Broken April

The Steward Of The Blood

Ismail Kadare's novel "Broken April" reminded me of the tales of the Danish writer Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) that I read long ago. As do Dinesen's stories, "Broken April" has the distant, archaic feel of a different world, from our own, including strange people, places, names and vocabularies. Their books take the reader to a different, seemingly romantic and aristocratic world but with a discomfitting, universal feel.

"Broken Aprii" is set largely in the mountain regions of Albania between the World Wars. This is a place unfamiliar to most readers. The tale has broader roots in its depiction of the Albanian blood feud which has persisted in the high country for centures. Kadare's writing throughout is poetic and lyrical. The blood feud in Albania is governed by a rigid set of norms gathered in a canonical book, with readers who interpret the difficult text. To simplify, when a man kills another man in the society the dead man's family must seek revenge by killing the wrongdoer. That person's family is then entitled to kill the killer, and so on through the generations until, in some cases, the two families reach a settlement.

Kadare's book is the story of a long standing blood feud when a young man of 26 takes his reluctant revenge on a member of amother family and then himself becomes subject to a revenge killing. The feud has many subtleties. There is an initial truce of one day, for the funeral, followed, usually but a truce of 30 days as was the case in thie revenge killing in this book. During this time, the killer must travel to a government office in the remote areas of the mountains to pay a revenge killing tax. The remaining time is his own. After the 30 days, he may try to go to places designated for refuge, including towers, or roads where vengeance killing is not allowed. He may also seek briefly hospitality as a guest in the home of another where revenge killings are not allowed. This book follows the blood feud from the young man who kills in revenge through the end of his 30 day period of truce.

In this story, a newly-wed couple from the city encounter the fugitive on their homeymoon. The man is a writer who has written romantic tales and poems about the remote life of the mountains but has nver visited before. His young wife knows little about the area. The wife and the fugitive exchange glances, little more, and beoome attracted. In the course of a few days, she becomes disillusioned with her husband and with the wild beauty of the mountains as she comes to see for herself the barbaric character of the blood feud.

The story includes many other supporting characters on the journey including the unforgettably named "Steward of the Blood" whose role it is to collect and keep an accounting of the taxes paid by blood feud killers. The outlook has not been good for the tax collectors as feuding has decreased somewhat resulting in diminished revenues. The young man who killed in revenge in this book did so fortuitously from the Steward of the Blood's perspective because it was the only killing on the particular day in occured, March 17.It was rare indeed to have a day without a revenge killing. Karl Marx is brought briefly into the story to make the point about the ever-present importance of economics. Instead of being from a different world of romance with its own knightly, macho virtues, the Albanian blood feud, it is suggested, is, with all its horrors and archaisms, motivated by cash. Blood and killing are commodities, like any other. Those from the city who sometimes may romanticize the culture tend to show a grevious lack of understanding.

"Broken April" has a sense of distance in the way it presents a culture that is not one's own together with a strong sense of skepticism, that takes the book in a direction different from Isak Dinesen. Something all--too-crass concludes Kadare's story of the Albanian blood feud. The young bride, who comes to understand what is going on, to her sorrow, is a crucial figure in the book, suggesting the need to examine received customs and traditions with a critical eye.

Robin Friedman